T’was the Night Before Halloween – by Benjamin Poinier
T’was the night before Halloween, the funeral home quiet.
Embalming tables were taken, like a frightening, dark Hyatt.
Stretchers were full of our customers too,
Varying shades of red, grey, and blue.
Arising a sound that persists unexplained,
Perhaps from a soul of these many remains.
The floor starts to tremor from what goes on below,
As the murmuring starts from deep, down, and low.
It grows quickly into a high-volume shriek
What finally is heard when just at its peak?
“Just let me rest here, I need not be moved,
This is my home now, with my two horns and hooves.
I’ll forever be part of your memories and life,
I’ll haunt you, your mother, your children, your wife.
I’ll eat of the living, your auras I’ll steal,
Feeding upon them as my every meal.
This is my promise, a promise I’ll keep,
I’ll haunt you in daylight, I’ll haunt you in sleep.
Get out of my building and just let me be,
Leave me I said or else you will see,
Tomorrow’s not coming, you poor simple man,
Get out of my home as fast as you can!”
So, I left there quite quickly, and ran all the way,
To my home and the family I hadn’t seen all day.
I told my wife nothing of that afternoon,
And preparing myself for the All-Hallowed-Moon,
Went to cuddle my children, my love, and my dog,
And that’s when my mind kind of went to a fog.
I had fallen asleep and opened the door,
For the ghoul to come visit, and even much more,
He could now take me over, my body and brain,
Gather some power and strengthen his reign,
The beast then rose up onto its feet,
Looking for more on which it could eat.
It could feast on my heart and grind on my bones,
And bury me deep, among dirt, rocks, and stones.
As more of these images came to my dreams,
I began hearing them, small giddy screams.
I stirred and knew them, the voices so well,
They were there near me, not straight from Hell.
My children were playing aside of my bed,
Huge beads of sweat atop of my head.
The morning had come, despite the ghoul’s rant,
Believe what had happened, I simply just can’t.
I had feared for my life, turned ten shades of green,
Only to find, it was just Halloween.
© 2022 Ben Poinier
Funeral Director
‘T’was the Night Before Halloween” was written by Guest Author Benjamin Poinier. We thank Benjamin for contributing to TCE with this great poem for the Halloween 2022 Poetry Contest,
Follow this link for more great poems by our Guest Authors.
I have always liked to write.It is important to me that writing comes from my heart and soul. When writing poetry, if I do not feel a spiritual connection to what I am writing on, I will discard it and go on to something I can connect with on a spiritual level. I live in the moment, I write from the past or beyond the veil. When writing fiction I go with whatever inspires me at the moment - it could be funny, sorrowful, romantic or sometimes done with the use of colloquial language from mountain folk or other cultural regions.
I began writing content online in 2007, starting with BellaOnline - A Voice For Women, where I was the Native American Editor, Folklore & Mythology Editor, and the Appalachian Editor. I also wrote articles forThe Examiner, Daily Two Cents, and Yahoo. I am currently an author on HubPages.
Most of what I write takes a lot of research and I love it. Even if it is a fictional story, I will research for accuracy in whatever it takes to make my characters, their era, their location, etc. become realistic to the reader.
I hope you enjoy my works. Thank you for visiting.
- Ode to Voices in Desert Sands - August 14, 2023
- My Secluded Mountain Forest Nook - July 24, 2023
- My Cozy Log Cabin in the Woods - July 22, 2023
Great poem, Benjamin. Welcome to TCE and thank you for contributing to our Halloween Poetry Contest.
Welcome Benjamin to TCE and thank you for sharing for TCE’s Halloween Poetry Contest. Well crafted and creepy poem I like the whole flip on Christmas. Jamie